The Henry and Stark County Health Department announces that members ofits staff recently attended a Social Media Training sponsored by theIllinois Public Health Association and the Illinois Society for PublicHealth Educators. The training was entitled, "Aligning Social Media andPublic Health." RaeAnn Tucker-Marshall, Health Department Director ofPublic Information, and Shawn Wager, Health Department Computer SupportSpecialist attended the training held recently in Glen Ellyn. The training's goal was to introduce participants to the principles ofsocial media in order to maximize public health and wellness/preventionefforts. The training also provided an overview of social media's role incommunicating provisions and benefits of the Patient Protection andAffordable Care Act as well as the state Health Insurance Exchange. Tucker-Marshall notes, "The training also gave participants skillsneeded to begin developing a basic social media strategy for healthpromotion and prevention messaging." Tucker-Marshall adds, "Participants attending the social media trainingincluded: Administrators, health educators, nurses, health communicators,and public health program managers. Our staff took part in this importanttraining, because we feel that we owe it to our local residents to beup-to-date on the latest communication innovations, techniques andinformation." For more information on the services available through the Henry andStark County Health Departments call the Department at (309) 852-0197 orvisit our website at www.henrystarkhealth.com or find us on Facebook atHenry and Stark County Health Departments.